Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) vs Galaxy J3 (2016)

Last year Samsung released its very own affordable smartphone champ, the Galaxy J3, to take on the all-conquering Moto G4.

There’s been no announcement of a successor as yet, but recent benchmark leaks suggest that the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) is on the way.

Here’s how the latest Galaxy J3 should match up to its immediate predecessor - assuming those leaked specs prove to be accurate.

Design

Samsung Galaxy J3 2017 (NA) vs Galaxy J3 2016 (142.3 x 71 x 7.9mm)

One thing spec leaks can’t reveal, of course, is the look and feel of a phone. However, we can take an educated guess concerning the Samsung Galaxy J3’s design by looking to Samsung’s history.

While Samsung has really pushed the envelope on premium smartphone design in recent years with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S7 Edge, its lower-end phones all tend to look much the same.

The Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) essentially looked like a cut-price, all-plastic approximation of the Samsung Galaxy S7 - which is to say, it looked a lot like almost every other Samsung smartphone from a past few years.

We highly doubt that the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) will look significantly different. True, Samsung has ditched its ‘traditional’ design altogether with the Galaxy S8. But the curved and bezel-free display that defines Samsung’s latest flagship is an extremely costly component, so don’t expect to see an equivalent here.

Display

Preliminary reports suggest that Samsung is sticking with the same basic type of display for this year’s model of the Galaxy J3 as last year’s. That means a 5-inch 720p Super AMOLED unit.

It’s unknown whether the displays will be identical, but it’s worth drawing attention to the fact that both will be Super AMOLED panels. Samsung is the undisputed master of this type of display, which tends to output much more vibrant colours and deeper blacks than LCD.

Last year’s model also won praise for its brightness, which isn’t often the case with so-called budget smartphones.

Even if Samsung does stick with the same panel for this year’s Galaxy J3, then, it’s likely to stand out at this price point.

Power

Samsung is one of the few smartphone manufacturers to have a hand in designing its own processor technology. While the likes of LG and HTC tend to go with off-the-shelf chips from Qualcomm, Samsung often fits its devices out with custom silicon.

At the top end of the market, Samsung’s Exynos CPUs are often among the most capable around, but in recent years it’s turned its hand to budget variants too.

The Galaxy J3 (2016) featured an Exynos 3475, for example, while the Galaxy J3 (2017) will reportedly be fitted out with an Exynos 7570.

Both can be deemed low-end chips, but the Exynos 7570 is built to a much smaller 14nm fabrication standard (the Exynos 3475 is 28nm). According to Samsung, the newer chip’s performance is as much as 70 percent higher, while power efficiency has been boosted by 30 percent.

Performance should also be boosted by an increase of the 2016 model’s RAM from 1.5GB to 2GB. We’re expecting the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) to be a noticeably smoother performer than its predecessor overall.

Camera

The Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) came with an 8-megapixel main camera, which is significantly less sharp than some of its main budget rivals. It also featured a relatively ordinary f/2.2 lens aperture.

We’re expecting the Galaxy J3 2017 to feature a similar-looking 8-megapixel main camera, but a wider (and thus brighter) f/2.0 lens. This latter point should make for improved low-light performance and a superior ‘bokeh’ effect when taking close-ups.

It’s unlikely that the Galaxy J3 (2017) will be the smartphone for you if one of your primary concerns is capturing accurate, detailed images. However, it should acquit itself well in terms of colour reproduction, while Samsung’s camera software is always strong.

In terms of selfies, it seems likely that the newer phone will have the same 5-megapixel f/2.2 front-facing snapper as the Galaxy J3 (2016).

Battery life, memory and connectivity

Samsung is unlikely to shake things up on the battery front, with the new J3 likely to feature the same 2,600mAh power unit as its forbear.

However, the aforementioned switch to Samsung’s new 14nm CPU should make for a measurable improvement in battery life. Remember that Samsung has stated that the Exynos 7570 is 30 percent more power efficient than before.

When it comes to storage, there should be a 16GB provision for the 2017 model just as there was for the 2016 model. However, while that was the top capacity for the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016), it could prove to be the entry-level capacity for the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017). While the former also had an 8GB option, it’s been claimed that the latter will feature a 32GB variant.

Regardless, you can expect the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) to come with optional microSD expansion, just like the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016).

Both phones should have support for Wi-Fi, 3G, and 4G connectivity. While the Galaxy J3 (2016) supported Bluetooth 4.1, the Galaxy J3 (2017) should support Bluetooth 4.2.

Price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) launched in January 2016 for around the £150, but more than a year on you can generally grab it for around the £120 mark.

We would expect the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy J3 model to come in at a similar price to the original at launch.

Those leaked benchmarks suggest that the Galaxy J3 already exists, and is simply awaiting a release, so expect to see it turning up any day now.